Another storm system dropped down along the Pacific coast with the center of circulation located off southern California on Saturday the 21st. Convection broke out across southeast Arizona by Sunday afternoon on the 22nd, with initial snow level reports at 6000 feet near Mt Lemmon.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS TWC wrote it up.
Another storm system dropped down along the Pacific coast with the center of circulation located off southern California on Saturday the 21st. Convection broke out across southeast Arizona by Sunday afternoon on the 22nd, with initial snow level reports at 6000 feet near Mt Lemmon. Storms continued to develop and move eastward across southeast Arizona, and became widespread by Sunday evening. The track of this storm system would cause heavy snow on the southern and eastern mountains located in central and eastern Pima, Pinal, and Cochise county. By the morning of the 23rd, flurries were being reported at the valley floor near Sells. However, most snow began to accumulate at 4000 feet. Although Hannagan Meadow Lodge only recorded 5 inches of snow, it was expected that the White Mountains would only meet snow advisory criteria due to the southern track of the system. Other area such as Sierra Vista, Hereford, Bisbee, Wilcox, Sonoita and Oracle received 1 to 2 inches of snow.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tucson, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 22, 3:30 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ 330 PM MST SUN DEC 22 2002 .SYNOPSIS...A STRONG PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA TONIGHT AND MONDAY. WIDESPREAD RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW IS EXPECTED ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FOR TONIGHT AND MONDAY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE BY EARLY TUESDAY ABOVE 4000 FEET. EXPECT A BRIEF BREAK IN THE WEATHER TUESDAY BEFORE ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM HITS THE AREA LATE CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY. .DISCUSSION...SNOW HAS ALREADY STARTED IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...WITH MT LEMMON REPORTING SNOW AROUND 200 PM AND SNOW LEVELS AROUND 6000 FEET. ALSO RECEIVED A REPORT NEAR SONOITA OF SLEET AROUND THE SAME TIME. EARLIER THIS MORNING HAD INTENTIONS TO UPGRADE WINTER STORM WATCH TO SNOW ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT WITH WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MONDAY. HOWEVER LOOKING AT RECENT SATELLITE IMAGERY...IT LOOKS LIKE THE STORM SYSTEM HAS ALREADY STARTED TO SHIFT A BIT...WITH SEVERAL PIECES OF ENERGY MOVING INTO SOUTHERN ARIZONA. THUS HAVE DECIDED TO GO WITH A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR ALL ZONE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NORTHERN GREENLEE AND FAR WESTERN PIMA. ALTHOUGH THE SOUTHERN ZONES OF THE COUNTY WARNING AREA WILL RECEIVE THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL...THE WHITE MOUNTAINS WILL ALSO RECEIVE SOME SNOW ACCUMULATION SIGNIFICANT FOR A SNOW ADVISORY. SNOW ELEVATIONS WILL DROP DOWN TO NEAR 3000 FEET ON MONDAY MORNING WITH SNOW ACCUMULATION THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT OF 3 TO 8 INCHES ABOVE 4000 FEET AND UP TO 14 INCHES ABOVE 6000 FEET. AS THIS SYSTEM MOVE TO THE EAST ON MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATION ON THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 4000 FEET...HOWEVER NOTHING SIGNIFICANT. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE MOVES ACROSS ARIZONA ON TUESDAY NIGHT INTO CHRISTMAS MORNING. THIS SYSTEM WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES RATHER COOL AND BRING ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. MODELS INDICATE THE NEXT PACIFIC SYSTEM TO AFFECT THE AREA BY THE WEEKEND. HOWEVER TIMING OF THE SYSTEMS IS TYPICALLY INACCURATE AT DAY 7...THUS WILL KEEP THE CWA PARTLY CLOUDY. .TWC...WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 6000 FT TONIGHT AND MONDAY FOR ZONES 29/30/32>35. SNOW ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT AND MONDAY FOR ZONE 19 AND SNOW ADVISORY ABOVE 4000 FT FOR ZONES 29/30/32>35.
AZZ019-029>035-231400-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
700 AM MST SUN DEC 22 2002
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST ARIZONA
.DAY ONE...TODAY
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
A WINTER STORM WILL START TO AFFECT SOUTHEAST ARIZONA TODAY WITH
SCATTERED LIGHT RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS SPREADING FROM WEST
TO EAST ACROSS THE REGION AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL
BE LOWERING TO AROUND 5000 FEET TODAY WITH LITTLE ACCUMULATION. AS
THE FIRST PIECE OF THE STORM SYSTEM MOVES EAST ACROSS NORTHERN
MEXICO TONIGHT...THE RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL BECOME MORE
WIDESPREAD. THE SNOW LEVEL WILL CONTINUE TO LOWER WITH SOME VALLEY
LOCATIONS SEEING A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY
THE STRONGEST AND COLDEST PART OF THE WINTER STORM WILL AFFECT
SOUTHEAST ARIZONA MONDAY AND EARLY TUESDAY WITH SIGNIFICANT
ACCUMULATION OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHEAST ARIZONA. UP TO A
FOOT OF NEW SNOW IS POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH LOWER ELEVATION
AREAS ABOVE 4000 FEET POSSIBLY SEEING ACCUMULATING SNOWS ALSO. A
WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MONDAY FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 4000
FEET. THE WINTER STORM WILL MOVE ON EAST TUESDAY WITH A BRIEF BREAK
IN THE WEATHER BEFORE ANOTHER QUICK MOVING SYSTEM AFFECTS THE AREA
ON CHRISTMAS DAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF VALLEY
RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW TO THE REGION.
FOR MORE INFORMATION...SEE THE LATEST WEATHER BULLETINS:
AWIPS ID WMO ID
WINTER STORM WATCH PHXWSWTWC WWUS45 KTWC
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Although a total snow amount of 2 inches was recorded at Oracle, at 4000 feet it met heavy snow criteria for the city.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, December 2002
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5325219.